


Slates

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Cometverse [58]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apologies, M/M, Mending Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 21:36:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19980889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: It's Ienzo's birthday. He's never had a party before.





	Slates

**Author's Note:**

> sneaking away from the main cast to see what some of the radiant garden guys are up to

It starts with Even.

He’s emerged from the lab for his morning coffee, and for once decided to linger a bit, sitting at the table with Aeleus and Dilan across from him. None of them are particularly talkative people, but the silence is not tense as they enjoy the quiet morning. Even has a pensive look on his face however, prompting Aeleus to glance meaningfully at Dilan, who eventually asks.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, nothing, I am simply ruminating.” Even stirs the spoon in his cup absently, and the pensive look doesn’t lift.

“On what?”

“On the kind of mentor I have been.”

“You mean Ienzo.” Aeleus says. Even sighs.

“His birthday is coming up. I know he is a child no longer, but so many of those years were spent as a being with no heart, and myself likewise. Such celebrations seemed trivial at the time. It is hardly the least of the neglect I have done him, but it weighs on my mind regardless.”

“We all failed him in some way.” Dilan says with a frown. Aeleus nods.

“We are lucky he bears no ill will.”

“Perhaps he was simply too young to grasp the wrong done to him at the time.” Even muses. “For all his exemplary intelligence, he was a child.”

“As you said, he is a child no longer, and these are things only he can know, truly.” Dilan points out. 

“You are correct. Forgive me, I only noticed the date this morning and it has been on my mind since.” If by ‘this morning’ he meant ‘two days ago’ at any rate.

“You think he’d want to do something for his birthday?” Aeleus surprises them both by speaking up. Dilan tilts his head.

“He’s not exactly a party person.”

“And not a child either.” Even adds. Aeleus shrugs.

“Don’t know for sure unless we ask.”

They both look at Even, who shakes his head fervently.

“Absolutely not. It will be nothing but embarrassing for both of us.”

“You said you regretted not doing better.”

“Which I do. Do not misunderstand me, I have my own plans, but I am not going to ask him if he wants a childish celebration when we both already know the answer.”

Dilan frowns, like he isn’t so sure, but he says nothing.

He tells Kaze about it that evening, who decides to take matters into her own hands, and on her next visit she stops by Ienzo’s workspace. This was not uncommon for her, having grown comfortable with most of the castle’s members in her time at Radiant Garden, and all the more so after she had taken in Haru and Naminé.

So when she steps into the space she glances around for Myde, and when she doesn’t see him moves on to greet Ienzo with a smile. He returns it easily, as well as the short hug she draws him into.

“Here.” She hands him a small platter. He lifts the cover and sees a sampling of what appears to be cake bites. “Dilan tells me your birthday’s coming up, and I wanted to make you something special for you. I wasn’t sure what you liked though. Try some.”

“Oh, thank you, but you didn’t have to.” He says as he pulls one out, taking a bite and chewing on it thoughtfully.

“Maybe not, but I wanted to. You don’t have to decide right now, but let me know which one you like best. I’ll make you a cake. Are you doing anything for your birthday?”

“No, I hadn’t even considered it really.” He shakes his head. “It wasn’t something we really… Well, growing up the way I did it was never really a priority.”

“Did you want to? You don’t have to, but you could.” She points out. He tries another cake bite.

“What does.. One usually do on these sorts of occasions?” He’s read about them, of course, but they always seemed so surreal to him it was hard to picture it.

“Depends on the person.” Kaze says. “For kids it’s a little more structured, but once you hit adulthood it’s more just whatever you want to do. A lot of people will find something to do with a group of friends, that they’ll all enjoy. Sometimes it’s going out and drinking, or just hanging out at home talking. I had one friend who for her birthday every year the two of us went out hunting the biggest fish we could find.” One time they’d managed to catch a whale and very nearly fed the whole island for a week. Tama had been extremely proud of that one. 

Ienzo takes another bite, sweetness dancing across his tongue.

“It would be nice to see everyone in the same place..” He says. “Nothing big. I don’t know what we would do, however.”

“Doesn’t have to be anything if you don't want. Honestly, put some food and drinks out on a table and people will usually come up with their own entertainment. And knowing your circle of acquaintances it’ll probably get plenty rowdy without any help needed.”

He laughs.

“You are probably correct. I will consider it.”

“Consider fast, there’s only a week or so till your birthday.” Kaze warns. He nods his ascent, lifting the last of the cake bites to his mouth. It zings pleasantly across his lips, fruity, but not overwhelmingly so.

“I like this one.” He tells her, and she grins. 

“Perfect. I’ll have a cake made up for you then.”

Kaze sends Sora to bring her ingredients, and of course once Sora knows what she needs them for, everyone does. It’s an efficient method of invitation system, if Kaze does say so herself.

Sora helps her make the cake, and she’s not sure how he got to be so good at cooking while simultaneously having no idea what he’s doing. Riku and Haru both end up leaning on each other laughing themselves to tears when Sora manages to get himself coated in flour, only to have the tables turned when Sora tries to catch them in a hug, managing to successfully grab Riku just as Kairi and Naminé walk into the room, making the both of them break into giggles as well.

The cleanup is well worth it.

Kaze ends up in and out of the castle even more than usual that week, coordinating with Ienzo. She knows she could do it with these new phone things, but she finds she much prefers talking to someone in person and forgoes the phone if she can. 

The day arrives and people gather in the castles center pavilion, out of sight from the rest of the town enough to be secluded, but open enough so as not to feel claustrophobic with so many people. All of the former apprentices show, wearing their formal regalia of course. Sora, Riku and Kairi make a particularly explosive entrance, sowing laughter in their wake. Lea, Isa, and Comet come in with their cubs in tow, giving their well wishes. Lea seems a little more stilted than he usually is as their group approaches, but Ienzo appears to pay it no mind, accepting their greetings with pleasantness. Kaze feels like there’s a history there, but she doesn’t know exactly what it is.

Kaze has appointed herself as custodian of the event, making sure everything runs smoothly, but she still stops to drop off her gift and give Ienzo a congratulatory hug. She chats with him a bit when he’s finished greeting everyone, one eye still on the gathering, and has to cut it short when she sees Haru and Naminé heading for the punch bowl (which she is almost certain somebody spiked earlier).

It doesn’t get as rowdy as Kaze had feared, but it’s certainly not boring, people talk and catch up and there’s only the occasional bout of roughhousing, which was only to be expected when half the guests are were’s, and most of those teenagers to boot.

All in all, she thinks most people had a good time, so when she sees Ienzo sitting at a table after all the guests had returned home, turning one of the gifts slowly over in his hands and looking somewhat despondent, she goes to sit next to him.

“How are you feeling?” She asks, setting her broom aside. Aside from Dilan, who is quietly helping remove decorations across the yard, the courtyard is essentially empty.

“A lot.” He admits. “Today was good, it really was nice to see everyone. I hardly know what to do with all these presents.” He gestures to the small pile on the table. He hasn’t opened most of them yet, wanting to do it with privacy, which most people had understood. He turns the small package over in his hands again. She recognises it as the one Even had given him. The crude wrapping completely fails to hide the fact that it’s obviously a book of some kind.

“But?” She prompts.

“I wish Myde had been able to come.” He says softly. Kaze’s expression softens.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to miss it.”

“I know he didn’t, I can hardly blame him for something so beyond his control. But I find myself wishing anyway.” He lets the unopened book rest on the table. Kaze pats him on the back consolingly.

“Trials of dating an eldritch horror with no grasp of time, huh?”

Ienzo snorts a laugh.

“Perhaps. But I love him regardless.” Kaze smiles and ruffles his hair as she stands. She picks up her broom.

“He’ll be back soon enough I’m sure. You can do something private with him then if you like. Was the cake good?”

He nods. “I forgot to ask, what kind of fruit was it?”

“Poaupu.” She says cheerily. He blinks.

“Isn’t that the one that ties people’s destinies together?”

“That old legend? Sure.”

“You make cake out of it?”

Kaze hms, trying to think of a good analogy.

“Would you give flowers to a stranger, or an acquaintance?”

“If the situation called for it, perhaps.”

“But wouldn’t that mean you’re dating now?”

“Ah, I see you’re point. It is dependant on context.”

“Yup. Context, rituals, intent. All that is important. It doesn't _have_ to be romantic either, though I know that's the thing all the lovestruck kids go for.” She chuckles, likely thinking of someone specific.

“Thank you for explaining it to me.”

“No problem. I should get back to it, you want help moving your stuff?”

He gratefully declines, and she walks off to help Dilan in cleaning.

He moves all the gifts to his room, opening them over the course of the next few days. Some sweet, some silly, some just plain strange, until there’s just Even’s, sitting on the desk next to his bed.

He finds himself strangely hesitant to open it. 

He feels something twitch against his leg, sitting up to see Myde lying on the bed next to him, grinning widely. The scales and sharp fins are absent today, but the tendrils of the Abyss still swirl around him and an assortment of eyes dot both his body and the darkness. 

“Myde!” Joy bubbles within him as he nearly pounces on Myde for a hug. 

“Woah, miss me?” He laughs, rolling with the attack hug jovially. 

“Always.” Ienzo says as he pulls back slightly, and Myde peppers small butterfly kisses along his cheeks as the tendrils of the Abyss wrap around the both. Eventually Myde pulls away and notices the pile of opened gifts along the far wall. 

“What’s all that?” He asks. Ienzo shrugs. 

“Presents from my birthday for the most part, I haven’t gotten around to finding places for them all yet.”

Myde looks distraught. 

“Your birthday? I missed your birthday?! You didn’t call me?” Ienzo pats him with a soft smile. 

“We did try, but sometimes even we can’t reach you. It’s okay Myde.”

Myde pulls him in for a tight hug, pressing his face into Ienzo’s collar. 

“No it’s not. You got older without me.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Ienzo pats his back soothingly. Myde shakes his head. 

“You’re always getting older, and what am I? Nothing. I need to be here while I still can. I’m sorry.”

Ienzo frowns. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Abyss doesn’t age, I’m part of the Abyss. The Abyss will hold me for as long as I can hold on to myself.”

“You’re saying you will not age?”

“Probably not? It’s not really consistent, between legends. The only one we really had any history for was the Bastille, and even that was aaaaaages ago.”

“The Bastille? I don’t think you’ve told me that legend.” Ienzo cocks his head curiously, always ready to learn something new. Myde drapes himself across Ienzo’s lap.

“Okay so, the Abyss is supposed to take its avatars only from the strongest willed, because it’s hard, you know? To hold onto yourself and channel the Abyss at the same time. If you don’t have a strong will, the Abyss just consumes you, which doesn’t make for a good avatar.” He starts. Ienzo nods, this much he had already know, but he knows Myde is only just setting up his story.

“ Even then most of them only last a century or two before they fade. It’s still way longer than like, a regular human life, but it’s definitely not immortality either. The Bastille was a hero chosen by the Abyss, thousands of years ago, and she lasted so long she probably shaped every grain of dirt on my world personally.”

“Impressive. How long was she there?” Ienzo asks. Myde gives a waffly gesture, indicating he’s not totally sure.

“There’s a few different versions, but they’re all more than several thousand years. She’s also the only avatar to cast off the Abyss and not lose herself under the weight of it. No one else has lasted even half as long as her, and the day she cast off the Abyss was an island wide holiday.”

“Truly impressive.” Ienzo says appreciatively. “I would have liked to meet her.”

“I think every kid on our world did at some point. Or wanted to be her. Trans kids especially, obviously.”

“Why is that?” Ienzo asks, knowing there must be a reason. Myde blinks.

“Huh? Oh right you wouldn’t know. The Abyss doesn’t just call and take. It gives something in return. The Bastille wanted a body that suited her, and she got it.”

“And what did you get?” He asks, curious.

Myde is quiet. Ienzo doesn't push, though it stretches long enough he wonders if Myde has lost the thread of the conversation.

“I don’t know yet.” He answers eventually, and then shakes his head. “The point is… I could fade away tomorrow… or I could live forever, while you grow old and die without me.”

“This weighs on you.” Ienzo brushes fingers lightly against Myde’s cheek, and Myde leans into the touch.

“Well yeah! It doesn’t on you?”

Ienzo hums thoughtfully. 

“I think it’s something to be dealt with as it comes, if I’m being honest. Certainly neither outcome is particularly appealing, but all we can do is enjoy each other’s company right now, which I fully intended to do already.” 

“See this is why you’re the smart one in this relationship. Hang on.” Myde sinks into the bed, literally, before reappearing moments later out of the shadows of a bookshelf. He’s sizzling and faintly damp, but he gives himself a shake and it evaporates. He strides to where Ienzo waits on the edge of the bed and reaches into his chest, pulling out a transparent orb. Inside is a constantly shifting and morphing object, moving smoothly between solid, liquid and gaseous states before their eyes. 

“Happy late birthday? I think it’s a rock.” He holds it for Ienzo to take, which he does. The orb has roughly the coolness and texture of glass, though Ienzo doubts very much that is what it’s truly made of.

“Fascinating! It appears to be boiling and freezing the material all at once, where did you find this?” Ienzo turns it over in his hands, studying it closely. 

“Ooocean? Yeah it was definitely in an ocean. Somewhere.”

“Amazing!” He looks up with a genuinely delighted smile. “Thank you, Myde.”

Myde grins back, flush with pride, and sits on nothing as Ienzo turns his attention back to the ball, spouting theories and equations Myde doesn’t even try to understand. He listens attentively though, grinning the whole time, glad to have made Ienzo happy. 

Eventually though, his attention wanders, and he spots the still wrapped book on the desk. He picks it up. 

“This is important. What is it?”

“It’s Even’s gift. I haven’t opened it yet.” Ienzo suddenly looks nervous. “Why is it important?”

Myde just shrugs, and hands it to him. Ienzo sets the seemingly impossible orb aside to take it, but still doesn’t unwrap it. 

“You should open it.” Myde prompts. Ienzo takes a breath and tears the paper away. 

It’s a physics book. 

It’s the same physics book sitting on his shelf a few meters away, torn and faded from years of use. Given to him by Even shortly after he’d been taken in by Ansem. 

A copy of a book he already had, given by the same person who had given him the first one? Disappointment weighs on his heart, but he pushes it aside. Even had never been good at these sorts of things after all. Perhaps it had been foolish to assume that would change once he’d been recompleted. 

Myde stares, silent and all eyes trained on him. 

He cracks open the front cover of the new pristine book with a sigh, if only to say he had, when a piece of paper flutters from between the pages. He picks it up curiously and unfolds it, recognizing the neat, compact handwriting as Even’s immediately. 

_ ‘Dearest Ienzo.  _

_ I do not know if you recall but not long after we were introduced to you as your new guardians I bought you this very book in a clumsy attempt to make you feel welcome as our ward. Perhaps it was a strange thing to give to a child not even a decade old, but to my surprise and delight you took to it with gusto, absorbing it’s contents voraciously and firmly setting your future scientific ambitions in place. You were an observant and intelligent child, and have grown into an observant and intelligent young man.  _

_ This is not self aggrandizement. The reality is that we had very little to do with who you have become as a person. We owe you an apology. Many apologies. We were failures as guardians on every front, and cannot take credit for the upstanding man you are now. You did that all on your own.  _

_ We cannot erase the past, nor can we truly make amends for what we’ve done, I would like this book to, in whatever small way, be an apology and perhaps representative of the first step of a new start. You need not accept it, this is your choice.  _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Even.’  _

Ienzo’s hands shake as he reads the words a second time. He normally loves encountering new emotions, categorizing and cataloguing them, relishing in their feel. But there are too many running through him all at once and he cannot hardly name them all. Sorrow, regret, fondness, love, a touch of anger running underneath it all.. He feels full to bursting and suddenly tears fall onto the paper, smudging the thin, neat writing.

He pushes the paper away, still unsure what to do with it’s message but unwilling to mar it.

Myde makes a couple of aborted movements, perhaps a hug or a shoulder grab, but clearly at a loss to do with the sudden tears.

“How many tries did it take him to write this?” Ienzo asks softly, sniffling and wiping at his cheeks with a sleeve.

“43.” Myde answers promptly. Ienzo lets out a sharp laugh. He sets the book and the paper on top of it onto the bed beside him, leaning forward to rest his face in his hands.

“What do I do? I barely know what to think of..”

“You never thought about it?”

“It was.. Easier to stay focused on the present. I was ten, Myde. I didn’t think about what the adults around me were doing until much later, and by then I had no heart with which to properly react.” Ienzo confesses. “It still feels numb.”

“That sounds pretty fucked up.”   


“It was.. But I also remember, that last night when we lost our hearts truly, Even tried to shield me. There was nothing he could do, of course, but when the protections failed and weapons had fallen, he still put himself between the darkness and me. He speaks of having failed, and perhaps he did, but I don’t believe for a moment it was intended.”

“I’m not sure if it ever is.”

Ienzo hums, tears dried as he picks up the paper once more.

“I.. I think I need to talk to him. Excuse me, I’m sorry.”

“Nah you gotta do this. He’s pacing the hall outside computer room.”

“Thank you, Myde.” He runs a hand through Myde’s hair and presses a soft kiss to his temple. “There’s still some cake, if you’d like to share some with me later.”

“It’s a date.” Myde grins.

Ienzo grips the note tightly as he leaves.

He’s not sure exactly what to say yet, but hopefully he’ll figure it out before he gets there.

**Author's Note:**

> there's exactly one tiny morsel of plot in here, and other than that.. just family feels and reconilliations. the good shit.


End file.
